As Dominion players smiled for pictures after their 10-8 win over No. 6 Riverside in the Virginia Class 4 girls’ lacrosse semifinals Tuesday night in Leesburg, someone suggested they pose with their index fingers up — the sign for “No. 1.” One player shut down the idea.
Immediately, all the players put their hands down, but they still couldn’t deny the thrill of advancing to the state championship game by beating their nemesis. The Titans had dropped three straight to Riverside, including in last year’s state semifinals.
“Going into this game, I really tried not to focus on playing Riverside. I treated it like it was just another game,” said Dominion freshman Molly Battaglia, who scored a team-high three goals. “It was hard because we had already lost to them twice this season, but we knew we could still do it.”
Powered by four consecutive early goals, two of them by Battaglia, Dominion (17-2) took an early advantage and led 6-3 at halftime. Riverside (18-1) then held the Titans scoreless for more than 13 minutes in the second half while cutting its deficit to 7-6.
Dominion Coach Diane Traynor called a timeout to settle her players down, and they responded, striking for two quick goals in less than a minute to eventually escape with the victory.
“We’ve been in that spot before,” Traynor said. “We took that timeout to regroup, get our composure back. We did a great job coming back. It’s hard to come back on those runs.”
The Titans will face Western Albemarle on Saturday at Salem High for the state championship.
On the boys’ side, Riverside and Dominion had split their two earlier matchups this season. Riverside got the upper hand in the rubber game with an 11-4 win in the Class 4 semifinals Tuesday.
Dominion (14-5) gained momentum to start the second half when it tied the score at 4 with two quick goals. But the Rams (17-2) relentlessly attacked the net to score seven straight for an emphatic win.
Three senior attackmen — Taylor Musa, Danny Maltz and Mitchell Pehlke — scored 10 of the 11 goals to propel the Rams.
Musa powered the offense with six goals, including five in the second half.
“We’re best friends off the field. We’ve grown up together and we’ve been friends since we were 7 years old,” Musa said. “It’s that chemistry we built early, and it pays off at the end. We just stuck together, did what we were supposed to do, and it feels awesome to celebrate together.”
The Rams will face E.C. Glass on Saturday in Salem, a rematch of the 2017 state finals.
Freedom, Briar Woods win
Freedom-South Riding beat Patrick Henry-Roanoke, 13-10, in a Virginia Class 5 girls’ semifinal in Aldie. The Eagles (18-3) will play Atlee in the championship game Saturday at Deep Run High in Glen Allen.
Briar Woods took down Champe for the third time this year with a 19-7 victory in a Class 5 boys’ semifinal in Ashburn. The Falcons (21-0) will look to repeat as state champions when they face Atlee on Saturday at Deep Run. The Knights finished 17-5.
